Fear of failure drives Gerrard for Liverpool's defining game

Steven Gerrard described the prospect as "unthinkable" yesterday, but Champions League elimination at the hands of Barcelona will not be far from the mind at Anfield tonight. Beyond that, the Liverpool captain said he could not bring himself to contemplate the "big chunk of the season" that would be left meaningless other than the small detail of qualifying for the competition once again.

They are seldom so negative when the big European nights come to Anfield but for a club so cruelly defeated in the dying moments by Manchester United on Saturday, the memory is still fresh. With the American owners expected to attend, emotions will be on edge against the European champions tonight: go through and this night will be remembered as one of the classics; go out and the season ends when the last jubilant Catalan leaves town.

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Certainly, Saturday's events accounted for a brow that looked troubled even by Gerrard's standards yesterday. The Liverpool captain admitted that he had a "difficult Sunday" coming to terms with the defeat and the reality that his club are out of another title race. At Liverpool they are clinging to the last trophy they have an interest in, but the European Cup has never exactly been a banker for even the most confident of clubs. At Liverpool now, it is the last salvation.

"It actually scares you as a player to think that, if you go out of this competition, you're only playing for a top-four finish," Gerrard said. "There's a big chunk of the season still left to play, so that's unthinkable. That drives me on and will definitely be in my mind when we play Barcelona, thinking that we need the result to keep our season alive.

"It's got to serve as extra motivation. It's really difficult to take that we've only got one trophy to play for, but it is the biggest trophy so it wouldn't be a bad one to go and win. The players need to focus on that and make sure we're in the draw for the last eight."

They are, however, not the only ones seeking redemption. The Catalan press corps arrived yesterday at Anfield en masse, and they came to interrogate the Liverpool manager about his team selection. Barcelona may have the most formidable front line in the world - Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho - but Rafael Benitez has possibly the most unpredictable and, with 24 hours to go, no one was much the wiser how it would shape up this time.

The smart money is on Peter Crouch starting, and when you hear Benitez's take on the Spanish attitude towards the England striker, it becomes more obvious why: they do not appear to have seen a player like him before. "Crouch is a big problem to Barcelona because normally they wouldn't play against someone like him in Spain," Benitez said.

Comparisons with Niko Zigic, the lumbering Serb at Racing Santander, were waved away - he may be just as tall but he has nothing like the ability and has been discounted by a number of potential Premiership suitors. The question of how Liverpool play, and whether that includes Crouch, goes to the heart of Barcelona's unease about the tie. Like the rest of us, they do not seem to have a clue what Benitez is thinking either.

The team will be announced, as usual, an hour or so before kick-off. No material clues were offered yesterday apart from a more expansive appraisal than usual of Crouch, who has been left out in favour of Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy of late, most notably in the first-leg game against Barcelona and against United on Saturday. In response, Barcelona are not certain whether they will play Rafael Marquez or Edmilson in the centre of defence.

"When we played against Betis [in 2005], they couldn't manage against Crouch because they aren't used to it," Benitez said. "And with the Spanish mentality about English football being all long balls and second balls, they are a little bit afraid to talk about Crouch. We might play with Crouch, but we need to bear in mind how Barcelona will play and do things that are good for us."

Gerrard admitted that it would be "suicide" to think that "the job is done" after a 2-1 win in the Nou Camp and there is, once again, the sense that this game will prove a fine examination of Benitez's tactical credentials. They are generally regarded as impeccable in Europe but tonight he faces an unenviable choice: defend and invite the best attacking force in the competition to have a go or, alternatively, attack and risk throwing away the lead.

The solution seemed to be somewhere in between, with Benitez talking about "controlling the game" and while his task may look substantial tonight, history is very much on Liverpool's side. The last time a team lost the first leg of a Champions League tie at home and overturned the deficit in the second leg to go through was Ajax, 11 years ago. Barcelona will, at the very least, have to score twice and they will have no alternative but to attack.

The ideal stage, you would think, for Ronaldinho to nail those stories about him carrying a few extra pounds around the waist - at the very least it might make him think twice about changing shirts at the end of the match. Comparisons of pictures of the Brazilian taken last year with more recent shots have suggested he has put on weight, although Gerrard was first to his defence yesterday. "He looked all right to me when he took his top off, he looked in great shape," Gerrard said. "He's just set unbelievable standards, so people expect him to be the best every game and score every game, hat-tricks, wonderful free-kicks and all these skills. But you can't always do that. He has one average performance and everyone thinks he's lost form or put a bit of weight on. But he's scored 17 league goals."

Liverpool will hope that their players are too busy celebrating another Anfield glory night to bother pursuing Ronaldinho down the tunnel for his shirt tonight. "The defining game of our season," Gerrard said. "If we lose there is nothing left." It is a bleak assessment but after Saturday's result they are stealing themselves for the very best, or very worst.

Odds against Barça History favours Reds to progress

Not only has no team ever successfully defended a Champions League title (in the current format) but it is also 11 years since a side won a tie having lost at home in the first leg. That was Ajax in the 1996 semi-final against Panathinaikos. Ajax lost the first leg 1-0 at home and then won 3-0 in Greece. Since then there have been 14 occasions when a team have lost the home first leg and failed to turn it around in the second leg.